This is the application for competing renewal of P30 DC005211, Sensory Mechanisms Research Core to provide shared services to a group of NIDCD-funded laboratories. The proposal includes an Administrative Shell, Engineering and Histology Cores. These Research Cores will enable more efficient utilization of common services, as well as access to specialized expertise. The Engineering Core includes a senior programmer and electronics technician, central data servers, auditory phenotyping facility, design of advanced acoustic stimuli and analyses, and a large-format poster printer. The Histology Core offers support and training in tissue preparation for standard light microscopy and immunofluorescence. In addition the Histology Core supports a senior EM microscopist, ultramicrotomy and EM access, as well as trained histologists to guide confocal imaging. The Histology Core will incorporate a confocal microscope into the shared facilities. Together the Engineering and Histology Cores, organized through the Administrative Shell, further strengthen the Center for Hearing and Balance, and now the Center for Sensory Biology which includes NIDCD-funded laboratories studying chemical senses at Johns Hopkins.